Happy Numbers 0.2 by donb

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

Happy Numbers 0.2 is a number system for use in OpenSCAD. I am releasing it into the Public Domain, so you can use and modify it completely freely.
Most OpenSCAD number sets on thingiverse consist of a separate .dxf file for each number. Happy Numbers works differently.
There is a single .svg file that contains a set of numbers in a grid of 'character boxes'. This .svg file has been converted to a .dxf file. Then, in OpenSCAD, you call the char() module; it 'selects' the number you want by using an 'intersection box'. char(1) is the first number, char(2) is the second number, and so on. Thus you can:
Change the font more easilyMake your own number sets more easily
*Use numbers in scripts in new and creative ways
Currently it has numbers for these scripts/fonts:Arabic (LMRomansUnsl10 - sorta resembles Nixie tubes)ChineseDevanagari (Hindi, Sanskrit)Tengwar (Tolkien's Lord of the Rings)Braille
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Making new numbers with your own fonts
If you just want to use this, you can skip down to 'Instructions'. But if you want to make your own kind of numbers, here is the method I used to make this thing.
Step 1. Getting an .svg and then saving as .dxf
The first step is getting the numbers.svg file to have the font you want. This can be as easy as opening up Inkscape and typing the numbers out. Or you could draw the numbers yourself, or find some on the web; as long as they are 'outline' shapes, it should work.
To do the process in Inkscape, here are the basic steps:
Open the numbers.svg file
0.1 Go to 'layers' and 'hide' the 'Grid' layer
0.5 Delete old numbers text
Create new numbers text
Select all of the new text
Click Path/Object to Path
Click Path/Break Apart
Click Object/Ungroup
For each character do the following:
6.1 Select the character
6.2 Click "Edit Paths by Nodes" tool
6.3 Hit Ctrl-A (select all nodes)
6.4 Hit the 'insert node' button 2-3 times (slow)
6.5 Hit the 'make straight paths' button
Go to 'layers' and 'show' the 'Grid' layer
Move each number so it fits in one grid box
Go to 'layers' and 'hide' the 'Grid' layer
File/Save-As/DXF
There is a great tutorial here (I skip the 'document properties' step):
http://repraprip.blogspot.com/2011/05/inkscape-to-openscad-dxf-tutorial.html
Step 2. Check alignment
The char() module has some parameters related to the DXF file. They include the x & y offsets to the first 'character box', and the width and height of the character boxes. You may need to check and tweak these if you change the font or characters. This can be done by running the adjustment_table() module and then manually tweaking the settings in char(). Example screenshots have been attached to this project; there are two screenshots with 'unaligned' settings, and one screenshot with 'aligned' settings.
Example
An example usage of these numbers is here, in my TeeTotum:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:8690
References
Arabic, Chinese, Devanagari, Braille:
Ubuntu Linux, Wikipedia, google image search
Tengwar:
http://www.acondia.com/fonts/tengwar/info/numbers.htmhttp://freetengwar.sourceforge.net/
Bugs & Drawbacks
The numbers are currently only 1 through 12. You have to 'manually create' anything larger.
These are not 'scalable' - they are made out of small line segments. If you blow them up too big they will be 'chunky'.
In Openscad, if you don't have GL2 or whatever, the full array of numbers shows up in the preview, not just the char() you choose, making it confusing. When rendered, though, it comes out properly.
Braille is not 'bubbled', it's flat cylinders.
The Tengwar dxf file is too tall, fix with charh=9 (see scad code)
There is no 'size' parameter; you have to use scale().
Using adjustment_table() with GL2 might be confusing